Xerxes, also called the Great King, was on the move. The Persian leader - who considered himself a god - had amassed a huge army. Herodotus says it numbered 1,700,000 men from forty subject countries. Their destination? Greece.

ISSUES AND QUESTIONS TO PONDER: When Demaratus said that Spartan warriors, fighting together, surpassed "all other men," he was making a point about collaboration. Do you think that collaborating with others, as a team, always leads to better results? Why, or why not?